Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi said Sunday that the problems of Middle East countries should be solved by the states themselves. He made these comments in his weekly press briefing in which he was asked about the setting up of US military bases in Iran's neighboring countries.

He said the establishment of such military bases in the region would not only fail to promote security in the region but might result in exacerbating the existing problems, he noted.

Pointing out that America's prolonged presence in the Persian Gulf never served to prevent the two past wars taking place in the region, the Iranian official conveyed that Washington's military presence in the region will make the problems more complicated.